biggest rip off of a ski area, plus false advertising

Loved the story about the 7 year old that is getting 100 days at Jackson hole, but it mentioned it is closing this week. WTF????
They charge about $1700 to about $2000 for a season pass, and they close this week??? And it says you get 6 months of skiing or snowboarding, but doesnt open up until a couple of days before december and closes right around the beginning of April, end of march. WTF??

The little local area I ski at opened middle of december, closes end of april, and the season pass is only $199. Sure JH is many times bigger, has some expert runs maybe %5 steeper and longer than the chutes and bowls at the local ski resort, but closing this week?? I think Mammoth will stay open till july this year. And it is snowing right now at my local resort. Again, just to clarify what I think of jackson hole, I will say it again,
WHAT THE FUDGE??!??!

Oh yeah, and FUDGE YOU jackson hole for banning Doug Coombs! He might not of died if you hadn't banned him!

Loved the story about the 7 year old that is getting 100 days at Jackson hole, but it mentioned it is closing this week. WTF????
They charge about $1700 to about $2000 for a season pass, and they close this week??? And it says you get 6 months of skiing or snowboarding, but doesnt open up until a couple of days before december and closes right around the beginning of April, end of march. WTF??

The little local area I ski at opened middle of december, closes end of april, and the season pass is only $199. Sure JH is many times bigger, has some expert runs maybe %5 steeper and longer than the chutes and bowls at the local ski resort, but closing this week?? I think Mammoth will stay open till july this year. And it is snowing right now at my local resort. Again, just to clarify what I think of jackson hole, I will say it again,
WHAT THE FUDGE??!??!

Oh yeah, and FUDGE YOU jackson hole for banning Doug Coombs! He might not of died if you hadn't banned him!

Don't sugar coat it, dude. How do you REALLY feel????

They close this week because no one - as in essentially zero - comes from out of town to ski here in April. If they stayed open, the only people who would benefit are the season pass holders - MOST of whom quit skiing when the snow stopped three weeks ago.

It's a funny thing about season passes. No one holds a gun to anyone's head FORCING them to buy a season pass. If thousands of JH locals think it's worth their hard-earned money to WILLINGLY buy a season pass, who are you to decide the deal sucks?

And the part about Doug - that's just idiotic. A.) He wasn't banned for life - his lift privileges were suspended for three years. B.) He was skiing JH again - and WORKING as a paid guide for the ski resort - long after the suspension expired.

If you're going to rant about something, could you at least make the effort to get a tiny bit of your information right?

It gets to a point where it costs way more to run a resort than it is worth. They still have to make money so they can open next season. If Mt. Hood didn't have the camps I highly doubt they would be turning the lifts all summer for the Portland/Hood River crowd.

Jackson Hole's opening and closing dates are specified in the lease agreement they sign with the U.S. Forest Service to operate on Forest Service land.

this isnt true and a cop out that resort mgmt throw out there. the real reason is most resorts that do skiing only buy insurance at a half year rate, and its hard to get people to come because people are lame, its expensive to run the place when noone is coming elect elect.

If you mad at Jackson get a Snowbird pass they try to open as late as possible with no thought on funds.

Despite all of the urban myths surrounding it, I have never heard any ski area management claim "forest service lease" as a reason for closing. Ski areas close because no one comes to ski. We had 16" of new snow yesterday, and maybe 200 people there.

May 2 1999 Baker closed with 6" of new and a 300" base. There were maybe 200 people there then also.

Despite all of the urban myths surrounding it, I have never heard any ski area management claim "forest service lease" as a reason for closing...

I haven't been there since the nineties, but when I skied JH, they were printing in their brochures the opening and closing dates and explaining that these dates were established in their agreement with the Forest Service.Edited by telerod15 - 3/29/10 at 2:10pm

I seem to recall something about the parking lot being part of the elk migration route or something along those lines. Sounds like BS but Jackson hole is a wintering ground for a lot of elk and home to an elk refuge so for all I know it could be true.

It has all been said.
People stop skiing, the kids in college
have exams coming up around the beginning of May.
I have to work on the boat.
Jackson needs alot of snow to start.
Looks like they'll have a nice finish.
But i'll bet anything below 7500' or so
is getting beat. Look at the webcam that includes Slalom.

Well that is worse. Because on the season pass page it says you get 6 months of skiing, so there would be no way they could get that much.

I clicked the "buy season pass link". The opening and closing dates, as well as the total number of ski days (128) are clearly indicated.
Anybody buying the pass would be aware of the dates.

While the pass is very expensive, options like the "weekend warrior" and 20 day pass are good options for people who ski less often.

One of Jackson's biggest drawbacks is the short lift-serviced skiing, and the fact that it isn't the best spring destination (sunny exposure). Jackson has a lot going for it though, and the locals I met while visiting Jackson this spring all seemed really happy with their choice to live and play in the Tetons.

Why does this bother you so much? Were you considering a move to Jackson? Did you want to book an early or late season trip?

You can ski later when the tram opens up for the summer. There was a season in the ninety's when The Village stayed open an extra week for "locals appreciation" or something like that. It was a great snow year and seemed like a great idea. It started raining that week and no one came. The bottom of the mountain can get problematic in April. Right now the top has good winter snow and the bottom is a bit messy. Lucky for me I like messy spring snow. BTW I have never heard or read that The Village offers six months of skiing.

Hey now, I have been respectful of everyone...
The webpage said they opened at the very end of November and closed the first couple of days of April. So that isn't 8 weeks, more like 1 week. So Dec, Jan, Feb, March, plus 1 week

Despite all of the urban myths surrounding it, I have never heard any ski area management claim "forest service lease" as a reason for closing. Ski areas close because no one comes to ski. We had 16" of new snow yesterday, and maybe 200 people there.

Partly right.

Ski areas do have special use permits from the Forest Service and I'm sure all of them require them to notify the Forest Service of their operating dates and sometimes dates of any special activities that might be happening on the mountain (early season snowmaking, grooming, etc.) These often are used an excuse for closing dates, often by misinformed frontline staff. The reality it, you can (almost) pick up the phone, call the Forest Service, and get the nod to extend the season. However, these are special use permits and just because one resort is bound by one set of restrictions doesn't mean another one is.

You're right - ski areas close because you can't make money after mid-April.